MERS

In infected mice, treatment made virus undetectable

DEADLY TARGET A human immune protein might combat the MERS virus, shown here in yellow in a camel’s cells. No vaccine currently exists for MERS, which has infected over 1,300 people and killed around 500 since the virus was first identified in 2012.

By mining the immune cells of a patient that beat the MERS virus, scientists have identified a protein that could help prevent and treat the deadly disease.

When tested in mice, the protein targeted the virus that causes Middle East respiratory syndrome. The protein could be used to develop vaccines or treatments to protect people from the MERS virus, an international team of researchers reports July 27 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.